Chris Walker
What Aldric and John Locke said - I'd also argue that an equally important distinction is what a Minor Faction is willing to
risk losing, seeing as they don't have the vast resources of a multi-sector state backing them up.
For instance, a Minor Faction I made (on another character) has a pretty solid defence fleet, mostly because of a shipyard, but only very,
very rarely send anything larger than a Light Cruiser out of their home system - they
might have a few Battlecruisers,
maybe, but the loss of even one would be so colossal a defeat that it might take them standard years to recover.
IMO, you
can probably go toe to toe with a task force sent by a Major Faction, under the right circumstances, but in 9/10 cases even a defeat on their part would be a strategic defeat on yours, given the greater ease with which they can replenish their forces.